A Stag's Life
by LadyProngsOfCamelot
Summary: James Potter appears to have everything at first glance. Loving family, lot's of money, popularity, good-looks. But when one marauder betrays another in the cruelest way possible, things can turn sour...
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 – First Encounters

"Now, you've remembered everything right? Your cauldron? Your robes?"

"Yes mum." James Potter was standing on platform 9 ¾ with his parents, his excitement bubbling over, threatening to envelope him. He was going to Hogwarts! This was it! After 11 years of waiting for his letter to arrive it finally did. James ran a hand through his already messy jet black hair, making it stick out in different directions. His brown eyes swept the station drinking in the view; the gleaming scarlet Hogwarts express, the meowing cats, the screeching owls. James' own owl, Taimes, screeched indignantly when a young boy nearby dropped his toad and ran after it, in the process crashing into a large pile of trunks which cascaded to the floor. James' eyes were, however, drawn toward a young girl with dazzling red hair and sparkling green eyes.

The girl appeared to be arguing with another dark-haired girl who looked like a muggle. James adjusted his glasses and edged closer to try to hear their conversation:

"…I'm sorry Tuney, I'm sorry! Listen…" the red-head was saying as she grabbed the others girl's hand. Tuney (or whatever her name was) tried and failed to pull way. "Maybe once I'm there – no, _listen_, Tuney! Maybe once I'm there, I'll be able to go to Professor Dumbledore and persuade him to change his mind!"

"I don't want to go!" spat the dark-haired girl. "You think I want to go to some stupid castle and learn to be a … a … you think I want to be a … a freak?!"

'That wasn't fair,' James thought angrily 'I am not a freak, my parents aren't freaks, and that other girl certainly doesn't seem like a freak.'

The red-head seemed to be thinking along the same lines, because she released her friend's (or sister's… James wasn't sure) hand and muttered "I'm not a freak, that's a horrible thing to say."

At this point James turned away from the two girls. He quickly kissed his parents good bye, promising as he did so to write every week, and climbed onto the train.

Still thinking about the girls on the platform, James walked down the train, his trunk trailing behind him, past compartments full of chattering students, some already in their school robes. All the compartments were full, except for one which was empty except for another boy who looked like he could also be a third year. He had long dark hair, stormy grey eyes, and a sort of haughty, proud look about him. The boy looked up as James entered.

"Hi, can I sit here? It's just there's nowhere else." James asked.

"Sure." The boy grinned and as he did so his whole face seemed to come to life. "I'm Sirius Black."

"I'm James, James Potter."

"Potter? As in Edward Potter? The Minister for Magic?"

"Yeah, he's my dad."

"Woah!" James laughed at the look on Sirius' face just as the door slid open and in walked the pretty red-headed girl James had seen on the platform. She didn't show any sign o acknowledging the two boys and just sat by the window. James was shocked to see she'd been crying.

"Err… hi?" said Sirius. When the girl didn't reply Sirius looked at James, perplexed.

"So what do your parents do?" James asked Sirius. At his words, Sirius looked at his feet and frowned.

"My dad works in the ministry and my mum just stays at home. My great-grandfather was once headmaster of Hogwarts, but he wasn't very good. I hate my family." Sirius muttered darkly.

"Hey don't beat yourself up about it. We'll be haring a dormitory! I've just realised! And my dad told me how to get into the kitchens!" James' said enthusiastically. Sirius cheered up quite a lot after that as they discussed quidditch and hidden passage ways James' dad had found when he was at Hogwarts.

Suddenly the door slid open to reveal a skinny boy with greasy black hair falling past his shoulders and a rather large hooked nose. He was already in his school robes and he looked quite ill until he saw the girl in the corner and his face lit up. "Lily! Hey Lily!" the boy cried excitedly. James watched him sit down opposite her and managed to catch snippets of their conversation.

"…and now she hates me!"

"But this is it! We're going to Hogwarts, Lily! You'd better be in Slytherin-"

"Slytherin!" interjected James, "Who'd want to be in Slytherin?! I'd leave wouldn't you?" he asked Sirius. Everybody knew that almost every Slytherin was cruel and hated muggles and muggleborns. The dark wizard Voldemort was a Slytherin.

"My whole family was in Slytherin." Mumbled Sirius gloomily.

"Blimey! And I thought you were okay!"

"Well you never know, maybe I'll break the tradition." Sirius grinned. "Where are you going? If you had a choice…"

"Gryffindor! Where dwell the brave at heart! Like my dad!" James pretended to raise the legendary sword of Gryffindor.

The boy by the window smirked.

"Got a problem with that?"

"No," sneered the boy maliciously, "If you'd rather be brawny than brainy-"

"And where are you hoping to go seeing as you're neither?" spat Sirius as James sniggered. Lily stood up rather red in the face and looking at them in disgust.

"C'mon Severus, let's find another compartment." She said, stalking out the door.

"Oooo… come on Severus let's find another compartment." Sirius mimicked as James tried to trip up the boy following Lily out the door.

"See ya, Snivellus!" James and Sirius fell about laughing as the door slid open yet again and in walked another boy, this time with sandy coloured hair. His clothes were shabby and had patches on them but he smiled warmly at the two boys clutching their stomachs in laughter.

"Hi, I'm Remus Lupin, can we sit in here?" It was then that James realised the boy was not alone, but as being followed by a small chubby kid with watery eyes and tufty brown hair. "This is Peter Pettigrew."

James and Sirius invited them in and introduced themselves. The rest of the journey ran as smoothly as a river of pumpkin juice. Several games of exploding snap, cauldron cakes and swapping of chocolate frog cards later the Hogwarts express came to a halt at Hogsmeade station. As the four boys exited the train, trunks and James' owl in tow, they heard a booming voice above all the excited chattering of the students. "Firs'-years! Firs'-years this way! Firs'-years over her! Firs'-years!"

"Hey! Hey, Hagrid!" James called and he found himself face to face with a huge being. Two times the height and five times the width of a normal man, Rubeus Hagrid had known James for a very long time as he was good friends with James' dad. Hagrid was rather ferocious looking, with a mass of wild tangled hair covering most of his head and face, but James knew Hagrid was really harmless.

"Yeh all right there, James?" said Hagrid warmly.

"Fine thanks." Said James, laughing at the awed looks of Sirius and Remus' faces and a cowering, whimpering Peter who looked like he was about to wet himself in fright.

"Firs'-years are comin' with me." Hagrid said brightly, leading them and the other terrified new students down the path away from the older kids. Eventually they reached the edge of a great black lake that stretched as far as they could see and in the distance silhouetted against the shining half moon stood Hogwarts, its many towers and turrets looming over the lake. In front of them was a small fleet of boats. "Right, four to a boat and keep yer hands an' feet inside the boat at all times." There was hurried scrambling as people rushed to get into boats with their friends. James, Sirius, Remus and Peter all squeezed into one of them, their knees knocking into the sides. "Right then, everyone ready? FORWARD!" bellowed Hagrid as the boats began to drift over the vast expanse of water toward the huge castle before them.


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: I forgot to put the disclaimer on the last chapter, oh well. Some text was and is taken from the Harry Potter books. Mostly HBP.**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, except for Zoe Cinders, Una Omoon and some other Hogwarts students not mentioned in J.K's books.**_

_**Setting: Marauder Era, Hogwarts or Platform 9 ¾ or Hogwarts Express**_

Chapter 2 – Sorting of everything

"Mr Potter, Mr Black! For the last time, kindly cease calling me Minnie and instead refer to me as Professor McGonagall!"

"Sure thing Minnie." James winked. The first years were waiting in the entrance hall, listening to babbling chattering students in the great hall. Professor McGonagall (or Minnie, as James and Sirius had so recently christened her) had just explained to the rules and the houses.

"I look forward to teaching the two of you." She said coldly. Sirius and James grinned. "I think they are ready for us now? Yes. Follow me first years." They entered the great hall and the talking immediately stopped. James looked around wonderingly. The four house tables were in columns between the staff table and the big double doors through which they had just entered. Light from the enchanted moonlit ceiling illuminated the hangings around the walls which bore the Hogwarts crest but were extinguished also by the silvery glow given off by the ghosts sitting among the students. At the top table, Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster, was sitting in his throne-like chair gazing down at the all with astonishingly blue eyes. "Please wait here for a moment." McGonagall ordered, as they near the staff table. She left the room through a small door at the side of the table.

James could feel Peter shaking with fright next to him and Remus had turned a little pale. Sirius also had reassumed the dark look he had adopted when they discussed his family on the train. James, however, just felt excitement. He could feel his blood coursing through his veins and was having difficulty keeping the smile of his face.

Professor McGonagall returned clutching a decaying stool and an old, patched wizard's hat. James nudged Remus who was looking at his feet; Remus saw the hat and turned paler still. McGonagall placed the hat upon the stool and the rim opened as the hat burst into song! _**(A/N: I'm incapable of writing songs or poems so you can imagine it.)**_ When it had finished applause and cheers rang throughout the hall and McGonagall, having already explained what to do, started the roll call.

"Arbelle, Megan!" A chubby, nervous looking girl, knees trembling, staggered toward the stool and sat upon it before forcing the sorting hat onto her head.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" roared the hat, sending the black and yellow table on their right into a frenzy as Megan Arbelle joined them.

"Black, Sirius!" James grinned at Sirius, who smiled weakly, before walking toward McGonagall, dragging his feet as he went. The sorting hat took a lot longer to make its decision this time, and then…

"GRYFINNDOR!" James cheered along with the rest as Sirius, looking relieved, joined the table.

"Cinders, Zoe!" Another girl walked confidently over to the stool, her dark eyes sweeping the hall. She had a slim figure and stylish blonde hair in a pixie cut. The hat paused before making it's decision.

"GRYFINNDOR!"

Zoe Cinders grinned wickedly as she sauntered over to the cheering table draped in red and gold on the far right and sat herself next to a cocky Sirius.

"Coland, Rustle!"

"RAVENCLAW!" He joined the bronze and blue table to the left.

"Cudren, Oliver!"

"SLYTHERIN!" Oliver Cudren sat at the green and silver table on the far left.

"Evans, Lily!" James held his breath as Lily stumbled on her way over to the stool, her eyes were wide with wonder and she bit her lip as the sorting hat dropped over her eyes.

As the hat contemplated where Lily should go, James looked around the other first years till he saw a familiar hooked nose. Severus Snape was watching Lily with great interest, his fingers crossed in his pocket. James wrinkled his nose in disgust. What did Lily see in that slime ball? He was creepy, not to mention ugly. 'Hang on! Why do I care?' thought James indignantly. Well that was easy enough to answer. He loved her. James loved Lily. 'But how could that be right? I've only known her five minutes and she's only ever been obnoxious to me.' He thought. But deep down he knew it was true. Ever since he'd seen her on the platform, she had taken his breath away.

"GRYFINNDOR!" screamed the hat. James, feeling slightly confused, cheered along with the rest as Lily removed the hat and flounced off to join the Gryffindor table. James realised there was a sad smile on her beautiful face as she looked back at the other first years, and James noticed Snape hanging his head in sadness. James scowled.

"Gurpen, Sabrina!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Johnson, Mitchell!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Janey, Rosaline!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Lupin, Remus!" Remus looked slightly green as he walked over to the stool and James wondered whether Remus was contemplating throwing up into the sorting hat.

"GRYFFINDOR!" bellowed the hat after a few seconds. Remus beamed ecstatically as he slumped down onto the bench next to a grinning Sirius Black.

And so in went on. There were a few other Gryffindors including a pretty girl with curly, glossy dark hair and blue eyes named Una Omoon, who through Sirius a dazzling smile as she sat down. Sirius looked quite proud of himself.

"Pettigrew, Peter!" Peter, who looked like he was about to wet himself, fell flat on his ace on the way to the stool. He dark small and beady eyes filled with tears as he rubbed his nose. The hat when placed upon his head, would have fallen below his eyes had it not been for his rather large ears.

They stood there in silence or a while until the hat shrieked "GRYFFINDOR!" and Peter joined Remus and Sirius, looking relieved.

"Potter, James!" James glanced around nervously as he made his way toward the stool. His hands dangled stupidly at his sides and he was suddenly very self conscious, aware that everyone was watching him. He felt foolish as he pulled the hat over his eyes, almost knocking off his glasses.

There was a moment of silence before a voice whispered in his ear "Difficult. Very difficult. A desire for power I see, and a thirst for popularity. Brilliant mind. But there's courage. Oh yes, there's courage. Loyalty too. But where to put you?"

'Not Slytherin.' Thought James, 'Not Slytherin!'

"Not Slytherin? But they could help you get the power you wish for. No? Well then must be… GRYFINDOR!" the hat shouted the last word for all to hear. James sighed with relief as he joined his friends. Sirius clapped him on the back when he sat down and James grinned at Lily, who promptly turned away looking disgusted.

"Snape, Severus!"

"SLYTHERIN!" the hat cried as soon as it touched Snape's greasy hair. James laughed loudly with Sirius when Snape fell over in hiss hate to get to the Slytherin table, earning them an angry frown from Lily.

Several minutes later, after Patrick Zinc had been sorted into Gryffindor, the sorting hat was carried away and the gleaming golden plates and goblets in front of them filled with enough food to feed an army. The boys ate until they were fit to burst and trudged up the Gryffindor tower, led by James ho had been told his way around the school by his dad the previous summer. When they reached the portrait of the fat lady however, they were forced to stop as none of them knew the password. "Err… we don't know the password." Mumbled Remus, shaking his head.

"Hey, excuse me?" Sirius called. The fat lady looked at them expectantly. "We don't know the password as we're new, is there any chance you could let us in? I'd be eternally grateful." Sirius flashed the woman in the portrait a winning smile and winked. The fat lady blushed a deep red and giggled.

"Well… I really shouldn't I… I…" she stuttered.

"We won't ever ask you again. Please?" Sirius pulled a pleading face and did puppy dog eyes. The at lady couldn't resist.

"Oh fine!" she giggled, and reluctantly swung open to reveal the very welcoming Gryffindor common room, it's fire greeting them warmly with squashy armchairs and a big soft sofa. James pushed Peter out the way and ran over to the spiral staircase on the right. The others followed him up the staircase and into their new dormitory. Red curtains hung around 4 four-poster beds, and two small windows showed a beautiful view of the grounds, lake and distant mountains.

James immediately took a running jump and landed on the bed next to the window. "Mine!" he cried, spotting his trunk and empty owl cage at the end of his bed. He assumed Taimes was probably already in the owlrey or out hunting. Sirius dived onto the bed next to James whilst Peter took the bed on the far left and Remus sat on the remaining one. "Can you believe it? WE'RE AT HOGWARTS!" yelled James, causing Sirius to let out a laugh like a bark and Reus to push James off his bed and onto the floor. The others all fell about in silent tears of laughter whilst James decided to start a pillow fight.

Yep, life at Hogwarts is gunna be a blast.

_**A/N: Yeah, I know it's short but I'm TIRED. Review? PLEASE!**_

_**Prongster x**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N: Thanks for your review and lagrimasnegras for pointing out that Petunia has blonde hair not dark hair. Sorry guys but I'm afraid that now it has to stay dark… tell you what, she can dye it! And Gryffindor is spelt G-R-Y-F-F-I-N-D-O-R not G-R-Y-F-I-N-N-D-O-R, my mistake again. My keyboards playing up, hence the spelling mistakes. Some of the letters keep stopping working especially f, m, w, e, s and shift. And Patrick Zinc was meant to be in Ravenclaw, not Gryffindor. Wow I really suck at writing.**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, except for Zoe Cinders, Una Omoon and some other Hogwarts students not mentioned in J.K's books.**_

Chapter 3 – Acquaintances and Reputations

"C'mon Mate! Wake up or we're going to miss breakfast!"

James opened his eyes. It took him about 30 seconds to take in his surroundings before he remembered where he was. He grinned sleepily as a dark figure leaned over him and yelled "OI! JAMES! BREAKFAST!" James put on his glasses and Sirius' disgruntled face came into focus.

"Alright! Just give me five minutes." He dragged himself out of bed and began to change into his school robes whilst saying "After our lessons we can explore the castle, try and find those secret passage ways my dad told me about and stuff, go to the kitchens." James gathered his books into his bag and walked out the door after Sirius, who was already half-way down the staircase.

"Yeah, good idea." Sirius nodded, winking at a couple of second-year girls who swooned. James grinned at them causing the youngest one to faint. When they walked into the great hall several minute later, they found Remus sitting by himself spooning porridge into his mouth.

"Hey Remus! When did you get up?" asked James.

"About 15 minutes ago. Peter went off to find you guys. McGonagall's about to give out timetables."

"Ok, dyoowanoocumwivussaferlessunstoesporthacarsel?" Sirius forced out, his mouth full of sausages and beans. It was a wander that he could make noise at all with his mouth so full.

"Sorry?" laughed Remus. Sirius swallowed with extreme difficulty and took a swig of pumpkin juice before answering.

"Do you want to come with us after lessons to explore the castle?"

"Sure." Reus smiled, but James was no longer listening. Instead he was watching the girl with flowing red hair who had just sat at the end of the table with Zoe Cinders and Una Omoon. Lily Evans laughed at something Zoe said as she poured herself some milk. She looked so beautiful when she laughed, it was as though nothing could go wrong in the world…

"Hello? Earth to James?"

"Wha- What?" Remus and Sirius were staring at him as though he'd just done something stupid.

"What were you staring at?" Sirius asked, "Was it that Zoe girl? She's hot! Or Una? She's hot too. I'm gunna go talk to them." And without further ado, Sirius had risen from his chair and was half-way towards the girls before James and Remus even acknowledged that he had gone.

"Hey! Sirius! Sirius, wait!" James and Remus sped after the longer haired boy, as Sirius reached Lily, Una and Zoe.

"Hi." Sirius winked at Una who giggled. "I'm Sirius, Sirius Black. And you are…?"

"Una Omoon. Nice to meet you." Una smiled, shaking Sirius' outstretched hand.

"And I'm Zoe Cinders." The blonde winked, also taking Sirius' hand. "And this is Lily Evans" Sirius glanced at Lily, his smile fading. She was glaring determinedly at her cornflakes as though they had insulted her in some way. Poor cornflakes.

"Hi Lily." James had made his way over and was no looking at Lily with a kind of pleasant apprehension on his handsome face. Lily ignored him.

"Girls this is James. James this is Una and Zoe." Sirius introduced the two girls with an expression of annoying smugness. "And this is Remus." He added as Remus struggled over to the through the crowd of Hufflepuffs now leaving the Great Hall. As Zoe and Una became acquainted with James, another girl entered the hall. She had long blonde hair in ringlets and pale blue eyes that shone under sparkly pink eyelids. The tanned skin on her face was caked in foundation and her school robes were cunningly pulled above her knee, displaying her lawless long legs. Three buttons were undone from her neck down to her breast. When she sat down she applied more mascara and lipstick before helping herself to a tiny portion of fruit which was supposedly her breakfast. Zoe noticed the girl and glared at her. The girl saw Una talking to James and scowled.

"Hey, Zoe, who's that?" asked James curiously, noticed the girl's scowl.

Zoe turned to face James. "That's Paige Darcy, she shares our dorm and she's-" Zoe stopped talking immediately as Paige sauntered passed, having already finished her miniscule meal. She ignored everyone as she passed except James, to whom she batted her long eyelashes flirtatiously. James stared after her. What just happened?

"And she's a complete bitch." Lily finished Zoe's sentence for her as she finally looked up from her cereal. James stared at her. She looked absolutely gorgeous, her long crimson hair falling gracefully around her shoulders, contrasting against her snowy white skin and her eyes shining like emeralds. James noticed Lily's lips had a fruity pinkish tinge to them as she curled them into a slight smile at the look of awe on the black-haired boy's face.

"Timetables!" called Professor McGonagall, moving down the table telling students which lessons they had that day and handing them slips of paper. James snapped out of his trance and tore his eyes away from Lily as McGonagall handed him a small slip of parchment.

"Thanks Minnie!" James grinned as McGonagall scowled and continued on her way up the table.

"What' first?" asked Sirius, not bothering to consult his timetable.

"Err…potions." answered Remus.

"Where's that?"

"In the dungeons." Remus answered again.

"Let's go then." Sirius stood up, offering one arm to Una and the other to Zoe. Una laughed happily and took it with enthusiasm; Zoe meanwhile playfully pushed Sirius over into the muesli and talked away with Lily giggling. James watched her go and felt a sudden sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Life at Hogwarts might be harder than he thought after all.

*****

October came and went without much happening. James, Sirius and Remus quickly established reputations as exceptionally talented boys, trouble-makers and, in James and Sirius' case, the hottest guys in the school. Sirius had many girls awning over him and seemed to have a different girlfriend every fortnight. James had many, many offers and opportunities but he turned most of them down.

His heart was still with the red-haired beauty in Gryffindor tower and the brightest witch in the year, Lily Evans. Lily had made extremely good friend with Zoe and Una, having shared a dormitory with the both of them for 2 months. Sirius had asked both girls out, but had now been rejected twice, much to Sirius' horror, because they did not want to become one of his many not-so-secret 'loves'.

The teachers, meanwhile, admired the two boys greatly. Their wizardry skills excelled that of most of the other in their year. They both seemed to be brilliant effortlessly, as they only spent five minutes each night on homework and still managed to get O's on all their essays. James was top of the class in transfiguration, closely followed by Sirius, whereas Sirius was the best at DADA with James right behind him.

Unfortunately, the two wizards lost as many points as they won in class by their frequent night-time wonderings and disregard for the rules. They quickly received reputations as the pranksters of the year, as were as mischievous as they were talented, as constantly found themselves in detention, sometimes accompanied by Remus and/or Peter. James and Sirius didn't mind though, to them all of it was just a laugh. Their favourite target for their pranks was Severus Snape; James found Snape's close friendship with Lily infuriating and therefore felt he deserved to be punished; Sirius just thought Snape was incredibly annoying and hated the way the big-nosed prat didn't was his hair and constantly made snide comments about Gryffindors and muggle-borns. James had heard Snape calling muggle-borns rude names such as 'mudbloods' on several occasions and it made him wonder whether Lily knew about it, her being a muggle-born herself.

November came and past with a flurry of frosted leaves on the trees surrounding the school, and before the boys new it, the Christmas holiday were upon them.

_**A/N: I know it's short, sorry. Also sorry for the delay, I've just been quite busy recently.**_

_**Thanks or all your reviews last time. PLASE REVIEW AGAIN!!! Please…?**_

_**x**_


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